Federal regulators probing worker's death on Gulf platform

Federal regulators probing worker's death on Gulf platform

Feb. 20, 2018

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — Federal regulators are investigating the weekend death of a worker on an oil production platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

The contractor was removing out-of-service fire suppression equipment when he was fatally injured on the offshore platform Saturday, according to a statement from Houston-based Talos Production LLC. The platform, about 65 miles (100 miles) south of Lake Charles, is operated by a Talos subsidiary called Energy Resource Technology GOM LLC.

The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in a statement Tuesday that no other workers were injured. It didn't immediately identify the worker or release additional information. No pollution was reported as a result of the incident, it added.

"This is a tragic event and we extend our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and co-workers of our colleague," Talos president and CEO Timothy Duncan said in a statement.

Talos said it is cooperating with the bureau's review and has launched its own investigation.

Energy Resources Technology was fined $4 million and placed on three years of probation in 2016 for violating federal laws governing safety and the environment.

It pleaded guilty in January 2016 to violations of the Clean Water Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

Violations included failing to comply with regulations for welding and related activities, violating regulations for proper testing of a blowout preventer and tampering with water discharge samples.

A Talos spokesman said at the time that it had made key organizational changes since acquiring Energy Resource Technology to ensure regulatory compliance.